The Wrestling Bard 02.28.09: Coffee Break II

Posted by Aaron Hubbard on 02.28.2009

Discussion of selling, black history month, underrated wrestlers, and face-heel turns. Plus, the match that is responsible for the Muta Scale!

All right, so you might be wondering why this gimmick is back? Truth is, when I ask people's opinions on things, I tend to get intelligent responses instead of being called a faggot for stating my opinion. Don't want to be sound "self-righteous" or "arrogant", so this feature will be back at the end of every month to give me a chance to talk about random things, and to give you a chance to voice your opinions.

But First!
I'd be remiss if I didn't give you actual columns to read, so here's some links to the other fine stuff around 411.

Eubanks! (Because I can't in good conscience do these coffee breaks without plugging the originator.)
Clark! (Because he isn't whining about Triple H-Randy Orton.)
Martinez! (Because it's good to be the king!)
Sarnecky! (Because this guy doesn't get enough love.)
Chambers! (Because he's on a roll and who knows if he'll ever have another one.)
Weyer! (Because he's awesome.)
Furious! (Because he's responsible for me wanting to write about wrestling.)
Bauer! (Because he reviews a great match.)
Csonka! (Because Jeremy Thomas also writes for him…and he's my boss.)
Lansdell! (Because as you read this I am typing out a pilot for TWO.)

Now that you've hopefully read some other stuff, grab a cup of coffee and let's discuss some wrestling!

Topic 1: Watching Christian vs. Jack Swagger this week reminded me of how awesome wrestling is when people SELL their injuries. How important is selling when it comes to overall psychology and storytelling?

My Opinion: I think I'll agree with Lansdell and say selling is THE most important thing you can do in wrestling. Yes, I know that wrestling is "not real", but I want it to look real. That doesn't mean I want every match to have body-part psychology, or that I hate spotfests. The truth is that most spotfests DO have selling. If you watch the three-way dance between Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Christopher Daniels, you will see that all three men get progressively more exhausted and that every move means something. Sure, they don't sell any specific body parts, but that is because the match didn't have any body part psychology. No one focused on a body part: it was just three men beating the crap out of each other. The selling of the match was perfect.

What I mean when I say that selling is the most important thing is that selling correctly, and more importantly, NOT selling incorrectly, is essential to the illusion of reality. If Nigel McGuiness works over an arm for five straight minutes, then I expect that arm to be sold for at least the next ten minutes. If Kurt Angle applies an Ankle Lock, I should expect it to finish the match instead of knowing that the opponent will counter or reach the ropes. And if Edge is constantly cheating and working his way out of the ring, I expect his opponent to get angry and sell their frustration. This is not difficult to understand. But when I see Angle casually apply an Ankle Lock, I expect it to be countered or escaped, because he is so inconsistent with selling it as a finisher. When I see Naomichi Marufuji IGNORE the five minutes of good arm work from Rocky Romero, I get pissed. And if John Cena or Batista no sold to keep their cool during Edge's shenanigans, you'd probably hear me riot. Selling is SO important because it makes what the wrestlers do MATTER.

However, it's also important not to OVERSELL. No, I'm not talking about Curt Hennig's comedic selling, because that's how he sold and how he consistently sold for everyone. I'm talking about selling something past its relevance. Let's say that Low Ki applies an armbar one minute into the match and spends the rest of the match dishing out kicks to the legs, body and head. Should I expect his opponent to sell the arm by hesitating on a suplex twenty minutes into the match? No, and I don't. I tend to follow the "twice-as-much" principle, where you should sell a body part for at least twice as long as it was worked over. In some situations (see Shawn Michaels' moonsault into a table), it's okay for a one-off move to be sold throughout the entire match, but these are the exceptions, not the rule. Also, I don't mind "fighting through the pain" to hit a move that is difficult to do with an injured body part, as long as due consideration is given before and after hitting the move.

And let me point out that sometimes people will say that some kinds of selling are no-selling. For example, let's go back to the John Cena-Edge shenanigans argument. If Cena chose to keep his cool throughout the match and stay composed, he isn't "no selling" Edge's attempts to piss him off. It's no different than countering Edge's DDT because he's felt the move a hundred times. But if he chose not to alter his game plan by either loosing his cool or trying to overcompensate by keeping his cool and not being as aggressive as he should be, THEN I'd be mad. The other thing I'd like to address is fighting spirit. For those who don't know, fighting spirit is when a wrestler (usually Japanese) chooses not to sell a move that is usually considering dangerous. Usually, the moves which lead to fighting spirit are suplexes and strikes. Unlike several of my colleagues, I view fighting spirit as selling.

Let's say that we have a match between up-and-coming wrestler A and veteran competitor B. Wrestler B starts hitting his trademark moves, but wrestler A chooses not to sell them. Why? Because he's either an insolent punk, or a brave kid who refuses to be intimidated. So then wrestler B refuses to sell for wrestler A, because he's a veteran and he won't be upstaged by the young kid. Or let's say heroic babyface C is betrayed by ex-tag team partner D. Wrestler D and Wrestler C hate each other and choose not to sell each other because they want to prove they are the better man. It's MIND GAMES (and therefore, PSYCHOLOGY!). Now, I will concede that some people do this too often, but to shove fighting spirit off as lazy or bad selling is too ignore the story the two men are telling. Like anything, used inappropriately, fighting spirit is a bad thing, but used correctly, it is a powerful storytelling tool.

Topic 2: Who, in your opinion, is the most underrated and underutilized wrestler currently competing? This means somebody who is, by and large, ignored by his company or even the fans, but is still providing quality entertainment all the time.
My Opinion: Since the last topic had such a long answer, I'll make this short and sweet. My pick if Jamie Noble. Here's a guy who is a great scientific wrestler that also knows how to fly, hit high impact stuff, and even brawl. He also has great charisma and wonderful comedic timing. However, this guy has not had a major push since 2006, when he was in a short lived team with Kid Kash. For a single's push, you'd have to go back to 2004 and Nidia being blind. A lot of this has to do with the death of the cruiserweight division, but really, there is no reason that Jamie can't be used in some capacity that allows him to show off his talent. His last chance may be in ECW, but we'll see if he is ever able to make a big name for himself.

Topic 3: This month is Black History Month. In honor of that, which African-American Wrestler do you think has had the most positive impact on wrestling?
My Opinion: First off, honorable mentions to the Rock and Ron Simmons. Rock became one of the biggest names in all of wrestling and is certainly the most recognizable black wrestler in the world. Ron Simmons was the first recognized African-American World Champion and he paved the way for the Rock, Booker T, and Bobby Lashley to become major players.

But, in my opinion, it really is a no-brainer. Bobo Brazil. Bobo broke down more barriers in wrestling than anybody. He was wrestling in an era where racial segregation was still very much a reality, but was so charismatic and talented that he earned the respect of fans. Initially, he was only allowed to wrestle other black wrestlers, but his popularity led to him feuding with Andre the Giant, Killer Kawalski, Dick the Bruiser, and even the Original Sheik. In 1962, Bobo was the first black man to win a world title, beating Buddy Rogers, although the NWA never officially recognized the title change. Bobo was the Jackie Robinson of professional wrestling and deserves to be in every Hall of Fame.

Topic 4: What is your opinion on face and heel turns? Is it okay for a wrestler to be a babyface and turn heel for no real reason, or vice versa? Or should turns always be logical and slow turns?
My Opinion: If I could book a promotion, I would focus less on creating "babyfaces" and "heels", and instead focus on creating "characters". Each character would have a distinct personality, a set of values and motives, moral flaws and codes of behavior, and strengths and weaknesses. Naturally, some of these characters would lend themselves to being heel or babyface, and I'd book them accordingly. However, I would create them to be flexible, and able to slowly turn either way as needed. These turns would be consistent with the character's values, and would always make sense. If I needed to turn somebody who was completely evil (like Edge) or completely good (like Cena), I'd throw a wrench in the machine that changes the dynamic.

Let me look at one of my favorite storylines that led to character changes. The first is Chris Jericho's turn from heel to babyface in 2003-2004. For TWO years, Jericho was the selfish, arrogant, egotistical chicken-shit heel that is an evil manifestation of his confidence, wit, and cockiness. There was no redeemable quality in this character at all. Then you have Trish Stratus, the beautiful, confidant, spunky girl-next door who was universally beloved. She was sexy without being a whore, and confidant without being arrogant. There was nothing to hate. So how could you possibly turn Jericho babyface or Trish heel? Simple. Throw a monkey wrench in there by having a romance between them.

Jericho's face turn started with a heelish action. He had a bet with his buddy Christian to see if he could sleep with Trish Stratus before Christian could sleep with Lita. That's absolutely despicable. But as he spent time with Trish trying to get in her pants, he found that there was more to Trish than a pair of bodacious ta-tas. She was sweet, smart, and caring as well as being gorgeous. Chris was a victim of falling in love. Love is one of those things that changes people, and is a logical reason for someone to change their behavior. But even as Jericho starting doing things for Trish, he maintained his heelish side, superkicking his partner Michaels into a pin, because Trish had told Jericho to get along with his hated rival. Come the Royal Rumble, Jericho eliminated his good friend Christian. And he was still his cocky, obnoxious self, but he was also becoming a more sensitive, caring person.

Trish on the other hand, also had a babyface motive for turning heel. Her "boyfriend" made a bet with his best friend to sleep with her! And she thought that Jericho was really changing! Jericho screwed up royally, and Trish had every right to hate Jericho. She was still willing to give him a chance to be a friend, but could we really expect Trish to just fall in love with Jericho again? And then, she gets abused by Christian, and where was Jericho when she was being assaulted? Presumably, Trish also got reacquainted with her masochistic side (Vince McMahon anyone?) and remembered that she like being abused. She then decided to be with Christian, and in the process, her confidence become arrogance, her sexiness made her a slut, and the girl next door become the princess who you never stood a chance with.

Both of these turns culminated at Wrestlemania XX, where Jericho, still cocky and arrogant as ever, was embraced by the fans who wanted to seem him beat the crap out of Christian. And when Trish rightfully chose not to support Jericho, the fans turned on her. The actions were consistent with each other's motives (Jericho's newfound love for Trish, his anger with Christian: Trish's pre-established desire for kinky sex, her refusal to give Jericho a second chance after the bet), but were on opposite sides of the usual sphere of behavior. Throughout this, both characters remained consistent. In the following feud between Jericho and Trish, Jericho continued to be arrogant and obnoxious, but it was at the expense of the now hated Trish and Christian, so the fans embraced it. Trish continued to point out that she needed to be loved, that she wasn't an object, and chose Christian over Jericho because of an epic mistake on Jericho's part.

I loved that storyline, and it showed just how great turns can be when they are backed by pre-established motives and given time to develop properly. For me, a character and his motives are more interesting than rather or not he plays by the rules. This is why Vince Russo's "shades of gray" can work. However, shades of grey can't mix with the fast-paced, swerve-a-minute crash TV style. It must be given time to work.

Weekly Wrestling!
Have you ever wondered what the Muta Scale is and where it came from? The Muta Scale is a smark created system used to rate blade jobs, and this is the match that caused it. The one not in face paint is Hiroshi Hase, who among other things innovated the northern lights suplex.



Here's the question: Should we change it the Eddie Scale? I think his blade job in the Judgment Day match was at least as sick as this one, and probably more.

And NOW…The Random Thoughts of Aaron Hubbard!

--- I cannot possibly overstate how hyped I am for Watchmen. The film opens this Friday, and you can bet that my next column will be done by Thursday so that I can see it.

--- I'm not usually one to comment on this sort of thing, but Velvet Skye may be the hottest chick in wrestling. It's like putting Ashley's Massaro's fashion sense (punk/gothish) on a girl with a beautiful face and a gorgeous tail, who also happens to know how to eat a sandwich. I know a few of my fellow staff members have claimed their loves (Sforcina has Victoria, Dunn has Trish, Small has Khali), but if Skye isn't owned by anyone, I call dibs.

--- For those wondering, my choice for match of the month is Christian vs. Jack Swagger. That was some amazing wrestling and it didn't need the gimmicks of the Elimination Chamber. It was just a good solid wrestling match and may very well still be in the running for "Free TV Match of the Year" come December.

So here are the matches of the month so far:
JANUARY: Kotaro Suzuki vs. KENTA ©, GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship
FEBRUARY: Christian vs. Jack Swagger ©, ECW Championship

March Madness is coming!